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Anybody have a ton of experience hitting off golf mats at the driving range and paying attention to how that translates on real turf?
I need to hit balls badly, but everybody's range in town is mats-only right now. The last thing I need to do is waste hours on the range doing something that isn't going to help me on the course. I've always avoided golf mats. But the more I hit off of them, the more it seems like hitting off hardpan, and that's a good thing ... if you can hit flush shots off hardpan, you're dang good. |
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| # 1 1/29/2011 3:55:36 PM |
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I personally don't like it. At the home course, its matts M-F and turf SS. For sure if you hit them flush, that should translate to a fairway lie. Not so much for rough. I've heard that hitting all the time from matts will affect your club lie angle etc. I think especially if you hit it fat. You WILL feel it. :(
I have a matt for my back porch (live on a course) from which I'll hit wedges and it does save on my grass a lot. :) |
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| # 2 1/29/2011 3:55:51 PM |
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Mats I use usually make the ball float more, which means that the ball's going to go a bit shorter. But with the range balls being so hard it makes up for the floatation and gets more of a roll out. So I'd estimate that you're going to be hitting 5-10 yards shorter on the range.
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| # 3 1/29/2011 4:05:53 PM |
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Yeah, the floating is because of the strike ... I do it too when I scoop the ball. Same thing happens when you hit off of hardpan and don't hit down and through the ball.
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| # 4 1/29/2011 4:50:44 PM |
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What are your thoughts about what the mats are covering? I've hit off some that were directly applied to a wood decking and weren't very forgiving. I've also hit off some that had more cushioning that seemed to feel a little more natural.
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| # 5 1/29/2011 6:29:11 PM |
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I feel it depends on if the mats are new or well worn. You should be able to feel if you are hitting them fat or thin and any practice is better than no practice.
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| # 6 1/29/2011 8:43:58 PM |
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At the start of the season here in the great Northeast, where the ranges open before the courses and you hit a thousand balls off the mats before you take it to the course, I always hit the ball real fat for the first few rounds, because the mats were so hard you had to dig your short irons in hard to get them airborne. But as technology changes, so has the quality of mats to now more resemble actual turf. We had a dome here for years before it collapsed in a snow storm a few years back. Used to spend lots of time there thru the winter and it had very hard mats, which resulted in lots of fat shots when the season started.
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| # 7 1/29/2011 9:13:06 PM |
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I dont think I would worry so much about how the mats will translate. For me hitting balls in the dome is more about keeping the muscle memory of my swing.
you're right if you can get solid contact on crappy hard mats you will have no problem on fluffy soft grass. |
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| # 8 1/29/2011 9:18:17 PM |
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At the start of the season here in the great Northeast, where the ranges open before the courses and you hit a thousand balls off the mats before you take it to the course, I always hit the ball real fat for the first few rounds, because the mats were so hard you had to dig your short irons in hard to get them airborne. But as technology changes, so has the quality of mats to now more resemble actual turf. We had a dome here for years before it collapsed in a snow storm a few years back. Used to spend lots of time there thru the winter and it had very hard mats, which resulted in lots of fat shots when the season started. Thanks a bunch. That's the one I was looking for. It makes perfect sense. It seems like I have to dig pretty hard to get the ball to fly off the mat on a normal trajectory. And I'm already a digger. And the muscle memory thing makes sense, too, Luke. Certainly if your choices are no balls or balls off mats ... well ... what choice do you have? I'll watch out for the fat shot creeping into my game the more I hit off these mats. |
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| # 9 1/29/2011 9:43:50 PM |
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I,use to hate hitting off the mat.But now it's no big deal.i,just want to hit golf balls.There are some good points of hitting off the mat.1.Tight Lies & 2. you know to hit down & through,with caution.Here's a tip on hitting off the mat.Do not ground your club,keep it above the golf ball,and learn to catch the ball clean off the mat,without hitting down.hope this helps
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| # 10 1/29/2011 10:10:43 PM |
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I,use to hate hitting off the mat.But now it's no big deal.i,just want to hit golf balls.There are some good points of hitting off the mat.1.Tight Lies & 2. you know to hit down & through,with caution.Here's a tip on hitting off the mat.Do not ground your club,keep it above the golf ball,and learn to catch the ball clean off the mat,without hitting down.hope this helps Actually, learning to the pick the ball clean isn't a bad skill to have. Only way to hit a long iron out of a fairway bunker ... at least that I know of. |
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| # 11 1/30/2011 11:48:44 PM |
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It depends heavily on the mat. I have a dome near me that hasn't changed mats since the hickory (shaft, not president) era. They're quite firm and bouncy (trying very hard to keep it about golf) it's like hitting off a car tire. It forces you to change your swing and tempo, which can lead to nothing good. Brave the cold, go out to a park, shovel a spot, and lose some balls. Sound advice. Hogan would love it. I've got the TAMU polo fields and about 400 golf balls in buckets that might be calling. You end up hitting from a lot of terrible lies half the time, but they're natural lies ... grass, dirt, etc. |
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| # 12 1/30/2011 11:49:38 PM |
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I did hear that you should get some grass (I assume this is an outdoor range) and put it a few inches in front of your ball. If you hit the ball and the grass that you placed in front of the ball then you know that you are hitting down and through the ball. Never tried it only read about it. I'll try it out. What the hell, right? Makes sense on paper. |
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| # 13 2/1/2011 10:59:00 AM |
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I hate golf mats with the passion of three suns. No feedback...you could be hitting the ball fat and you hardly can tell.
That being said I live in Iowa...so mats are a way of life until late Spring. |
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| # 14 2/1/2011 11:21:04 AM |
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I hate golf mats with the passion of three suns. No feedback...you could be hitting the ball fat and you hardly can tell. I also have a Hate relationship with mats, even though I live in So. Fla.
That being said I live in Iowa...so mats are a way of life until late Spring. |
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| # 15 2/1/2011 6:11:26 PM |
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I hate golf mats with the passion of three suns. No feedback...you could be hitting the ball fat and you hardly can tell. I also have a Hate relationship with mats, even though I live in So. Fla.That being said I live in Iowa...so mats are a way of life until late Spring. If that's true, it fits exactly in with MikeNomgi's advice on the golf mat ... if you can't tell you're hitting fat on the mat, then you go from the golf mat to the course and hit it fat because of the lack of feedback on the mat. Right? Anybody ever play at St. Andrews (or anywhere else) during the winter season when they make you hit off mats in the fairway? Colin Montgomerie said it's made a huge difference in course condition, saying the golf mats help preserve St. Andrews' fairways, so that when spring comes around, the course is tip-top. But I've always wondered what kind of mats are they using? |
